Wiki Follow-Up

As a follow-up to Tadge's post on wikis . . .

There is an article today in eSchool News Online.

Wikis Test Students' Research Skills
'Information literacy' is key in dealing with online sources
By Roger Riddell, Online Editor, eSchool News

"Wikipedia and other reference sites that allow users to submit and edit content themselves are creating new challenges for educators. Experts say the rise of these kinds of web sites underscores the need for educators to teach students strong information-literacy skills."

And a sidebar in the article . . .

Study: Wikipedia as accurate as Britannica--at least on science
Nature conducted a side-by-side comparison of articles in covering a broad swath of the scientific spectrum

There is even a photo of Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia (in case you were wondering what he looks like). Thought you might be interested in taking a look.

It would be great if some of our science educator blog members would comment on this too. I'm interested to see what you think about the article above on the accuracy of Wikipedia on science topics.

Ed Tech Buzz at Village Elementary: Podcasting with Students

Ed Tech Buzz at Village Elementary: Podcasting with Students

This is a link to a post I put on a different blog that I'm using with a technology integration study group in Hilton. Thought I'd also share it with all of you. If you have students podcasting, I'd love it if you could share links. Maybe we could get a conversation going between students in different districts.

OR

If you are interested in starting a podcast with students and would like some assistance, I'd be glad to collaborate with you and teachers in your district. Just let me know.

I'd really like to try this out with some students, and, lacking students of my very own, I'm seeking some to play with.

Wiki and Media

Hello from Tadge O'Brien! This is my first post here so I thought I would say hello.

Lori just sent me a really interesting post from Education Bridges on Wiki Books. They were talking about wiki books and the ability to use them as a show case of best practices for teachers. All I could think of was wow how cool would it be to connect this to videos of teachers using best practices in their classroom! For example check out what West Irondequoit has done for their teachers! Imagine being able to connect what is done in a professional development course and being able to quickly show an example of best practices! Then it would be great to be able to go out and look at a book about similar teaching strategies. Think of the power this could give teachers and how much it could help students learning.

You could begin to easily integrate a multimedia and textual site that can help teachers and students learn about what works in the classroom.

Mobile Technologies

The following began as a comment to iPod, Therefore iAm!, but I felt that it might stimulate some dialogue among us regarding emerging mobile technologies in education. Something that I have been very interested in:

I have played with the iPod and it is very, very cool, but I can't help but bring up the fact that a handheld (PDA), my Dell Axim for instance, can also play podcasts as well as read blogposts through a free RSS aggregator called pRSSreader . It allows you view blog posts and to download enclosures (podcasts) directly to the storage card (mine is a 1GB SD card).
NOTE: While my Axim can play video, I have not experimented with vodcasts (video podcasts) as of this posting.

While I can't compare with the storage of an iPod, I like my handheld because it's more versatile than my stepson's 60GB video iPod. More versatile meaning I can use similar features available on the video iPod, in addition to accessing the Internet via Wi-Fi, create and edit documents, spreadsheets, even presentations (i.e. - PowerPoint). I can read and send e-mail synced with my Lotus Notes as well as schedule meetings with colleagues.

We have been wrestling with what part these particular mobile technologies will take in our classrooms. What is the best device for the classroom? I feel that it's really a delicate balance of what desired outcomes and cost to schools.

Trusted Sources and Suprglu

Will Richardson has a post on his blog, Weblogg-Ed, about Suprglu. Click on the title above to go to that post. There is also an interesting comment by Bosko Milekic about a product he created, PeopleFeeds, to improve on Suprglu. I'm still trying to get my brain around what this is and how it works, but little by little I'm beginning to understand a little.

iPod, Therefore iAm!

YIPPEE!! Santa brought me an iPod for Christmas. Doesn't it make me look younger?! (see picture)

Seriously, I've found some really great EdTech related podcasts that I've been listening to. And, even if you don't have an iPod (and I really feel for you) you can still listen to these on your computer.

Here are some that I highly recommend:

Connect Learning - David Warlick - I really enjoyed the 3 part series he had that was a presentation by Angus King, the former governor of Maine talking about the Maine laptop project and other technology related issues.

EdTech Learning Coast to Coast - A regular podcast featuring Educational Technologists from throughout the country. Regular panelists include Will Richardson, Tim Lauer, Tim Wilson, and Steve Burt. Show notes are also available on the web site. The latest episode was on Content Filtering with Steve Burt, Tim Lauer, Tim Wilson and Will Richardson discussing Myspace and the like. It was very good and there is a great list of resources there that you can download.

EdTech Talk - Edtechtalk shows are recorded during live interactive webcasts. They usually have a guest or two to discuss what they've been working on or share their thoughts about some aspect of ed tech. During the show listeners can skype in to comment and ask questions or they can hang out in the chat room and participate from there.

The Savvy Technologist - Tim Wilson - Interviews and other information about educational technology from a curriculum guy who happens to be a geek (his words, not mine). He has a blog, and video on his web site as well.

Blog Beat - Will Richardson - He has some ocassional podcasts mixed in with his regular blog, Weblogg-Ed. I tried to find a way to subscribe to the podcasts separately but couldn't figure it out. However you can listen to the audio online or download it and then transfer it to an iPod or other device.

TO FIND EDUCATIONAL PODCASTS - Education Podcast Network - Ted shared this link with us over the listserv. It's a great source of education-related podcasts, both done by teachers and done by students.

FOR STUDENTS - Ask an Astronomer - Real NASA astronomers, from the Spitzer Space Telescope and Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, answer questions about the science of astronomy. This has video (no, I didn't get the video iPod) from experts that answer the questions posed. I was looking for information about how to submit a question but couldn't find that.